Can My Wages be Garnished?

There seems to be much confusion among consumers in Pennsylvania with regard to the right of creditors or debt collectors to cause wages to be garnished for the payment of past due obligations. This may be due to the fact that Pennsylvania is one out of only a handful of states that have thus far thwarted the strong creditor lobby in favor of wage garnishment laws. There are two fundamental facts you must understand about wage garnishment:

1. No jurisdiction within the United States permits the garnishment of wages without legal process, i.e., you must first be sued by the respective creditor, debt collector or debt buyer before anyone can even raise the specter of wage garnishment;
2. Pennsylvania does not permit wage garnishment (with a few extremely limited exceptions, namely child support and past due rent)

For more information about wage garnishment, please see our recent post on our Abusive Debt Collection blog.

Announcing an Important New Website for Pennsylvania Consumers

As a joint venture between Attorney Amy Good-Ashman and the Law Office of Stephen M. Otto LLC, a new website has been launched with the goal of educating Pennsylvania consumers regarding their rights vis-a-vis aggressive debt collectors and debt buyers. The site is called "Abusive Debt Collection in Pennsylvania". Please feel free to visit!

Amy Good-Ashman earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (with honors) from Albright College. Amy is a cum laude graduate of Widener University School of Law, Harrisburg campus, where she was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society; served as an associate editor for the Widener Law Journal, Volume 15; and served as the Symposium Editor for the Widener Law Journal, Volume 16. During her law school experience, Amy spoke at the National Conference of Law Reviews in Chicago on the topic of law review symposia, was awarded the Legal Research & Writing Award from Widener University, and was awarded the Medal of Excellence from the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Ms. Good-Ashman is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, and the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. Amy is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Eastern District Bankruptcy Conference, the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Berks County Bar Association.

Ms. Good-Ashman is active in the community and has served as a member of the Wyomissing Area School District Tax Study Commission, the West Reading Planning Commission, the West Reading Recreation Board and the West Reading Borough Council.

Debtor Audits Have Been Suspended in 2008

Contrary to much of the negative static that has been circulating about the state of the economy since the beginning of 2008, bankruptcy debtors have received one bit of good news -- the United States Trustee has announced a suspension of the audit program, as reported by Jill Michaux.

Debtor audits have been subject to harsh criticism due to their perceived lack of utility and the fact that debtors with limited resources are forced to pay to comply with sometimes excessive demands for information and documentation generated by the audits. Ironically, it would seem that the cost of the audits isn't excessive only from the Debtor's point of view; the reason for the suspension of the audits cited by the United States Trustee is a lack of funding.

See also Jill's post here.

Know your Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Judges...

Recently, I posted about the varying procedures employed by Pennsylvania bankruptcy judges on Bankruptcy Law Network. Bankruptcy Law Network ("BLN") is a collaborative legal information site which I started with several other bankruptcy attorneys.

The federal judiciary in Pennsylvania is divided into three separate and distinct Districts. Each District has its own post on BLN to describes the procedures used by the Judges within the respective District.

Eastern District


Middle District


Western District

Bankruptcy Attorney Expands Service Area

The Law Office of Stephen M. Otto LLC is not limited to serving the Sewickley Valley. We are committed to providing conscientious bankruptcy assistance to individuals in Beaver County, including Ambridge, Baden, Conway, Freedom, Rochester, Beaver, Chippewa, Beaver Falls, Darlington, Midland, Koppel, Aliquippa, Hopewell, Monaca etc.

We are also available to assist those in Allegheny County. This includes Leetsdale, Avalon, McKees Rocks, Ross Township, Bellevue, North Side, South Side, McKeesport, Pittsburgh etc.

We are available to assist those in Lawrence County, including New Castle and other regions located within the county.

Other service areas:
Butler County
Somerset County
Westmoreland County

Those living in Somerset and Westmoreland Counties should take note that we have a secondary "home office" very close to the town of Somerset at Hidden Valley Mountain Resort.

Announcing Office Relocation -- Same Building, New Office Suite

Law Office of Stephen M. Otto, LLC has relocated its main office Suite 270 of The Car Barn Shops Building, 409 Broad Street, Sewickley, Pennsylvania 15143. Formerly, the office was located in Suite 260 of the same building. The move represents a significant expansion in terms of available space for office operations.

The firm will continue to represent exclusively consumers in several practice areas including Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Fair Credit Reporting, and Fair Debt Collection.

Feel free to visit us at our new location!

Homeowners Face Foreclosure As Local Company Folds

IMAGE MASTERS, INC, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania mortgage brokerage files for chapter 7 bankruptcy. The filing is of concern to consumers due to a service offered by the company called the "Equity Slide/Wrap-Around-Mortgage program". Evidently, this program caused the brokerage to act as a middleman between the consumer and the mortgage servicer.

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